Christmas Cracker: Crocs and Nukes

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Christmas Cracker: Crocs and Nukes

There has been plenty of bad news about nuclear power recently (e.g. see my last but one blog), but in the seasonal spirit of ‘good will to all’, here is something a little bit more positive- and lighthearted!

The UK is planning to get around 8% of its electricity from nuclear plants at some point after 2020- and around 30% from renewables. It might be argued that, instead of trying to compete with renewables, coal and gas in the electricity market, which may prove hard, perhaps nuclear ought to look to other markets.

Top of the range options include the production of hydrogen, and possibly other synfuels, that could be used in vehicles- that is a high added value product. I looked at some of the emerging ideas for hydrogen and synfuel production in an earlier post. http://environmentalresearchweb.org/blog/2009/09/nuclear-or-solar-hydrogen.html

The US Department of Energy’s new ‘Next Generation Nuclear programme’, with up to $40 million on offer for an initial planning phase, is now looking at the idea of extending the application of nuclear energy ‘into the broader industrial and transportation sectors’. But high temperature reactors of the type being explored are still some way off- work on South Africa’s Pebble Bed Modular Reactor was recently halted due to financial constraints.

Less speculatively, you don’t need new technology: conventional nuclear plants, like all steam raising power stations, produce a lot of waste heat. There has been much talk recently of using some of this for local heat networks - linked to nuclear ‘Combined Heat and Power’ plants. Some plants in Russia already do this, as I noted in an earlier post. http://environmentalresearchweb.org/blog/2009/07/pipe-dreams.html Selling heat as well as power can improve their economics.

Heat from the turbines at nuclear plants is already quite widely used for other purposes. For example the 5400 MW nuclear plant at Gravelines, near Dunkirk, feeds waste heat to a Sea Bass farm, which evidently produces around half of all worlds’ farmed sea bass. And the existing Olkiluoto nuclear power station in western Finland, provides heat for growing Latvian zilga grapes in a nearby vineyard. Even more exotically, there is a large tourist crocodile farm at Civeaux in Provence, fed with heat from a nearby nuclear plant. I’m sure there are other examples.

Perhaps more practically, nuclear plants have been used for the desalination of sea- water. For example, in Japan, I’m told, ten desalination facilities linked to pressurised water reactors operating for electricity production have yielded 1000-3000 cubic metres/day each of potable water, and over 100 reactor-years of experience have accrued, while Pakistan plans a desalination plant coupled to its KANUPP reactor near Karachi. Morocco is also, it seems, planning nuclear-powered desalination, as is China (at Yantai, producing 160,000 cu m /day, using a 200 MW reactor). And S. Korea and Argentina have each developed small PWR-type reactors designed for cogeneration of electricity and potable water.

Mind you, renewables can also do this. The various Concentrated Solar Power plants being built of planned in North Africa can desalinate sea-water. And in Texas, Renew Blue’s wave-powered ‘Sea Dog’ water pump device is near completion, on a platform in the Gulf of Mexico. It will desalinate sea-water. Some could then be sold in bottles, rather than Perrier and the like.

I know the risks of contamination with nuclear material are miniscule, but somehow, personally, I’d prefer my water to be kept well away from radioactivity. So, if I needed bottled water, I’d prefer Renew Blues’ offering. But then some spa waters are very mildly radioactive, which was once claimed to be part of their curative value. And, it might be a bit of a stretch, but these days the nuclear industry sometimes argues that low levels of radiation aren’t that dangerous: http://www.world-nuclear-news.org/RSRadiationrisksquestioned0312092.html

On balance though, I think I will stick to beer. Happy Xmas drinking, whatever your choice!

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Posted by Dave Elliott on December 26, 2009 1:16 PM

IQE poised for growth with advanced solar technology

A hi-tech company in Cardiff is poised to take advantage of the global growth in solar power generation with its next generation solar technology.

High-efficiency solar cells are being developed by IQE in Cardiff – including one of the first photo-voltaic (PV) devices of its kind in the world using semiconductor materials.

Project manager Rob Harper said the development of the world class product will position IQE for strong growth in the future, securing and creating highly skilled jobs at its Cardiff plants.

The technology developed at IQE uses specially engineered layers known as multi-junctions to convert different parts of the solar spectrum into electrical energy.

A higher percentage of solar radiation can be harvested using this method compared to other types of solar cells.

IQE’s solar cells are already capable of converting around 40% of solar radiation into electrical power and further research is being conducted to improve this.

By concentrating sunlight using inexpensive lenses and mirrors, the amount of active solar cell material can be reduced, further lowering the overall unit cost.

Known as concentrating photo-voltaic (CPV) this approach is suited to large installations of 5MW and above, and works best in regions with high levels of direct sunlight.

Although CPV is a new technology and accounts for less than 0.5% of currently installed PV power, a number of large CPV installations are under way in Australia, the US, Spain, Italy and Greece.

CPV has substantial market potential because of its high conversion efficiencies, and industry experts anticipate a compound annual growth rate of 45% between 2009 and 2015.

IQE, whose manufacturing facility and global headquarters was established in St Mellons, Cardiff in 1988, has recently produced the world’s first triple junction devices with a new, patented combination of semi-conductor materials.

This is attracting the attention of CPV manufacturers worldwide because it has the potential to provide improved efficiency at lower cost.

IQE is already established as a leading global supplier of advanced semiconductor materials for wireless products and is now gaining recognition as a world leader in materials technology for CPV.

The global PV market has created more than 75,000 high-quality, skilled jobs in Europe alone since 2004.

The onset of ‘grid parity’, where PV electricity will be equal to or cheaper than existing carbon-based electricity, is also approaching.

Countries with high levels of solar irradiation and high electricity prices such as Italy and Spain are predicted to reach parity as early as next year. Germany will reach parity in 2015 and most other European countries by 2020.

The investment in R&D has been supported by the Welsh Assembly Government.

Ieuan Wyn Jones, Minister for the Economy and Transport, said the work being undertaken by IQE was already having a significant impact globally.

“This green technology has massive growth potential.

“Wales is already making its mark in the rapidly expanding green low-carbon sectors which have potential for extensive future growth and job creation which supports our green jobs strategy.”

Environment Minister Jane Davidson said: “The technology being developed by IQE is a great example of how Wales can be at the forefront of developing renewable technology that will play a significant part in the future and help create economic opportunities and sustainable jobs.”

Solar Reserve chose Tonopah for the radiation

TONOPAH -- The U.S. Bureau of Land Management held a public hearing at the Tonopah Convention Center last Thursday regarding the proposed 100-megawatt solar plant called the Crescent Dunes project.

It would be owned by Tonopah Solar, a subsidiary of SolarReserve.

The proposed plant, the third in Nevada, would be located off Pole Line Road, approximately 11 miles northwest of Tonopah.

Representatives of SolarReserve, the BLM and HDR Engineering were on hand to answer questions about the project in an open house forum.

Tom Seley, Tonopah field manager with the BLM, welcomed the group and explained the meeting was the start of the environmental impact statement (EIS) process and the BLM would accept public comments on the proposed project through today, Dec. 24.

Julie Way, director of development for SolarReserve, gave an overview of the proposed solar plant and said the reason for choosing this location is the solar radiation levels in this area are among the best in the world.

Way also said, "This site is in a largely undeveloped area with good site access as well as access to NV Energy's existing transmission system, minimizing the length and cost of new transmission lines required.

"The demand for renewable energy is growing and the more renewable energy we can produce, the more we can reduce our dependence on non-renewable sources of energy. The 'fuel' needed for wind and solar power is free and not subject to cost fluctuations, making it a more affordable alternative."

The project would be a boost to the local economy by creating about 450 construction jobs at its peak and about 45 permanent operating jobs once completed, and it would also generate significant property tax revenues to benefit the local community.

The project will use SolarReserve's concentrating solar power technology with storage, and have the capability to produce a nominal 100 MW of energy.

If all the permits are received by December 2010, as planned, the plant would be operational in 2013.

The proposed facility will use concentrating solar power, or CSP, technology, and be equipped with an integral storage system. The technology generates power from sunlight by focusing energy from a field of sun-tracking mirrors called heliostats onto a central receiver.

Liquid salt, which flows similar to water when melted, is circulated through the receiver, collecting the energy gathered from the sun. The heated salt is then routed to an insulated storage tank, where it is stored with minimal energy losses.

When electricity is to be generated, the hot salt is routed to heat exchangers to produce steam used to generate electricity in a conventional steam turbine cycle. The salt is then sent to the cold salt storage tank, ready to be reheated by the sun and reused the following day.

This unique technology allows the renewable energy to be stored and extracted on demand.

The stable electricity supply reduces grid reliability impacts from other intermittent renewable energy sources. This also allows the salt to produce electricity even when there is no sunlight, if needed.

SolarReserve's CSP technology does not require the use of natural gas and associated combustion emissions to maintain operating stability as some other solar technologies do.

One of the groups concerned with the project was the Tonopah Astronomical Society. Several of its members attended the meeting to find out if there would be light pollution from the plant that would affect Tonopah's dark skies.

Way explained that during the day, the receiver, which is mounted on top of the tower, will glow as it absorbs solar energy, but there is no solar energy at night so the receiver will not be operating then.

The rest of the lighting at the plant will be designed to be downcast to minimize light pollution and at night will be limited to use only in areas necessary for worker safety.

The tower will be a concrete structure approximately 538 feet high, on which a receiver approximately 100 feet tall is mounted. A maintenance crane will be mounted on top of the receiver for an overall height of 653 feet.

The proposed project involves two right-of-way applications, one for the site which is approximately 7,860 acres, and the transmission corridor which is approximately 3,680 acres.

Once the comment period was closed yesterday, the comments and reports were to be reviewed and the draft EIS will be prepared and released sometime around June 2010.

Once the draft EIS is released, notice will be published allowing the public 45 days to comment.

The plant would interconnect with the north part of NV Energy's system at the Anaconda mine area.

Rather than taking questions from audience members as a whole, the representatives were set up at tables throughout the convention center and answered questions on a one-on-one basis.

Tonopah resident Clair Blackburn said, "I think this will be a great project and a great boost for Tonopah. They put my fears to rest about the possible light pollution."

Nye County Commissioner Joni Eastley said, "This is an exciting project for Tonopah and Nye County, and we hope it's just the first of many similar projects in the area."

Eco Tech: Keahole Solar Power's new farm generates renewable energy even after ...

Eco Factor: Solar power plant capable of generating green electricity even after dark.

Keahole Solar Power has installed an array of micro-scale concentrating solar power concentrators at the Holaniku Solar Farm on Hawaii’s Big Island, which will be able to generate renewable energy even after sunset, overcoming the biggest hurdle in global solar adoption.

The farm consists of a thousand solar collectors covering 3.8 acres that are capable of generating 2MW of thermal energy. All this energy is used to heat 8000 gallons of water which runs through Electratherm organic rankine cycle waste heat generators.

This system can operate on a temperature difference of just 20 degrees, which enables the plant to function efficiently after dark and during overcast days.

Via: GreenPacks/Treehugger

VEA considers 7% hike

Valley Electric Association board members will consider increasing residential rates 7 percent for 2010, during a board meeting at 9 a.m. today.

That's down from the 10 percent rate hike suggested last month.

The VEA board will discuss the rates privately at 9 a.m. The public will be admitted into the board room, at the VEA headquarters at 800 E. Highway 372, about 10 a.m., VEA Chief Executive Officer Tom Husted said.

The VEA board avoided playing scrooge just before Christmas last year by deferring a proposed 7.47 percent rate increase.

That, said Husted, "was a short-term solution. From the long-term standpoint we just have no choice but to raise rates. We have to remain a strong, viable company. We have fiduciary responsibilities to meet certain financial benchmarks, obligations."

VEA had a meeting with bankers last week, Husted said. The cooperative has a covenant agreement to meet a certain modified debt service coverage two out of three years, he said.

When it comes to comparisons, Husted preferred to compare 2009 figures to 2006.

"The last time we raised rates was in 2006. So the rates were established to allow us to have a certain rate of return. Since then our costs have gone up $9.5 million and if we wouldn't have done anything it'd be closer to $12 million," Husted said.

This year, VEA offered retirement buyouts to 14 employees. Those employees who meet age requirements will receive one year of severance pay, five years added to their pension, a lump sum payment for sick pay and vacation time and medical insurance until they are 65 years old. Husted said the cost of that program would be $6 million over five years, but the cooperative will save $10.3 million from the reduced positions.

Almost a 1 percent drop in members due to the economy have reduced revenues 3.4 percent, from $39.8 million to $38.4 million, according to monthly VEA reports. The cooperative expects to make about $1.5 million in margins in 2009, Husted said, or what would be called profits in the private sector. That compares to margins of $4.5 million in 2006 and $4.1 million in 2007, he said.

Husted said the cooperative is going to backload some expenses that would be paid in 2010 to 2009 that will result in a net loss of $4.5 million this year. That's an accounting gimmick to prevent another mediocre year of profit margins.

The cooperative will pay $5.5 million next year on long-term debt instead of $2.3 million in 2006, Husted said. Among other categories making up the $9.5 million in additional costs since the last rate increase in January 2006: The cost of power went up $2.5 million annually, transmission expense $341,000, distribution expense $530,000, maintenance costs $550,000 consumer accounts expenses $400,000, customer service and information $582,000.

The only budget category that's down is sales expense, he said.

The proposal would hike residential customer rates from 10.27 cents per kilowatt hour to 10.98 cents. The average homeowner uses 1,325 kilowatt hours per month, meaning power usage payments alone would rise from an average of $136 per month to $145, plus the $15 service charge.

Irrigation rates would go up from 8.4 cents to 9.0 cents, another 7 percent hike. General service and small commercial rates would go up 6.5 percent from 10.07 cents per kilowatt hour to 10.73 cents. Medium and large commercial rates would go up 7 percent, from 8.6 cents per kilowatt hour to 9.2 cents.

Husted said the cooperative can't use patronage capital to prevent a rate increase.

No boom for VEA

The opening of the federal detention center and its 1,072 inmates next fall won't be that much of a boom to VEA, Husted said.

"The detention center will be similar to a big box store. So it'll be somewhere between Home Depot and a Walmart. While it will have the potential of having a big, economic boost to the community and employ quite a few people with good paying jobs, the actual electrical load isn't that significant," Husted said.

Concentrated solar power projects being considered in Amargosa Valley could allow VEA to generate revenue by "wheeling" their power, or sending it through VEA lines.

But Husted said those projects may not go on line for a few years.

The proposed cap and trade regulations being debated in Congress could affect VEA irrigation accounts, like the Ponderosa Dairy, but it would have some positive benefit in that renewable energy credits VEA would receive for the solar hot water heater program would be worth more, Husted said.

The co-op broke away from the Rural Nevada Electrical Cooperative and hired a lobbyist of its own to monitor legislation like cap and trade, as well as state legislation, he said.

One of the reasons for the increase last year was the proposed $50 million, 238-kilovolt northwest power line extension project that would connect the VEA system with NV Energy. That has been put on hold while NV Energy attempts to line up easements on the other end.

In a cost-cutting measure, VEA no longer paid medical insurance to employees who retired, saving the cooperative $1.5 million annually. Labor makes up 16 percent of the cooperative's budget.

Another measure that deferred the cost increase last year was the cost of purchasing wholesale natural gas. Power costs comprise just over half the budget. During the power rate discussions last year, there were projections the cooperative would pay almost 7 cents per kilowatt hour for wholesale for power costs this year, but VEA signed a blended power purchase contract last summer to buy power through 2016 at a rate of 6.4 cents per kilowatt hour.

Surfing a wave of Californian sunshine as America looks for renewable future

ESolar claims that its tracking software makes the plant far more efficient than previous technologies for concentrating solar power. The company says that its prefabricated modular designs have solved many of the problems that have held back large-scale solar generation, includ-ing cost, speed of deployment and proximity to existing transmission lines.

In particular, it says that the lightweight mirrors need much less steel and concrete to set them in place, which reduces construction costs. The company touts the Sierra SunTower model as one that can be replicated anywhere that the Sun shines, on industrial sites or on uneven ground, and is looking to franchise out its technology to other companies to build and run solar power plants.

Bill Gross, the chief executive of eSolar, said: “Sierra is just the beginning. Soon eSolar technology will be deployed worldwide to provide clean, affordable energy to hundreds of thousands of homes. We’re at an historic point when technology can finally enable clean, renewable energy at a price competitive with fossil fuels.”

In February eSolar announced an agreement with NRG Energy to develop three plants in California and New Mexico that will generate up to 465MW of electricity. The first plant is expected to come onstream in 2011.

ESolar is also looking overseas. India, in particular, has ambitious plans for solar power generation and, in March, the company licensed its technology to ACME Group, which is based there, for approximately one gigawatt of solar thermal capacity. Its first 2.5MW plant is under construction in Rajasthan and the installation of a 46MW plant is likely to begin in 2010 for completion in 2011. India boasts arguably the most ambitious solar energy development plan in the world, with a target of 20,000MW for 2022. The country has excellent solar resources, particularly in the northwest.

Raed Sherif, eSolar vice-president of international development, said that the business was in talks with companies in Jordan, Kuwait and Egypt and had opened an office in South Africa.

The US Energy Department has calculated that a 62-square-mile (160 sq km) parcel of the Mojave that straddles Nevada, Utah, California and Arizona receives enough sunlight to power the entire country. In Lancaster, the site of the eSolar facility, there are about 300 sunny days a year and the company says tests indicate that the plant works even on partially cloudy days.

Other Californian start-up companies are getting in on the act. BrightSource Energy, based in Oakland, has contracts with Pacific Gas & Electric and Southern California Edison for its Ivanpah plants, with a capacity of 440MW in the Mojave. Bechtel, the huge American project-management specialist, has signed on as the engineering contractor and equity partner for the project. BrightSource is also constructing a 29MW thermal plant for Chevron in Coalinga, California, and the company has operations in Israel and Australia. Arnold Schwarzenegger, the Governor of California, has become a keen supporter of solar power generation in the Mojave and has fostered legislation to cut carbon emissions and tackle climate change. Last month he mandated that, by 2020, at least 33 per cent of state energy comes from renewable sources.

In all categories of solar power generation, including photovoltaic, the United States ranks fourth, after Germany, Spain and Japan, producing about 8,800MW last year, according to the Solar Energy Industries Association, or less than 1 per cent of America’s energy use.

President Obama has called for that figure to rise substantially. In all, $80 billion of stimulus grants has been spent to jump-start clean-tech industries such as solar thermal. The American Solar Energy Society has forecast that a shift to renewable sources could create as many as 37 million jobs by 2030.

Global solar industry leaders went to Copenhagen this month to highlight the impact that solar energy technologies can have on combating climate change. Solar arrays leave no carbon footprint after manufacture of components and construction.

However, the ultimate aim of achieving “parity” with fossil fuel power production — when it is as cheap to make electricity from solar sources as from coal — is still some way off, according to experts.

Solar Power Overcomes Biggest Hurdle, Produces Energy at Night

As is common knowledge, solar energy installations are only as good as the direct sun they face. There’s nothing to do at night, and clouds are a bad thing. In an interesting turn of events, solar energy appears to have overcome that giant hurdle, in what some optimistic people call the “Holy Grail for Renewable Energy.”

A demonstration project by Keahole Solar Power in Hawaii has an installation of Sopogy “Micro-scale Concentrating Solar Power Concentrators” with thermal energy output of 2 megawatts. The main players here are the ElectraTherm “Green Machines” that run on the organic Rankine Cycle and are waste heat generators.

ElectraTherm units can operate at a temperature difference of just 20 degrees, and can vastly improve the efficiency of a system. Output (hot water) from the solar power concentrators can be put to its conventional use, and then handed over to ElectraTherm units which generate more electricity while consuming only a small fraction of the generated Btu.

It is believed that if all waste heat were used to generate power and heat water, these installations could be used through night and without interruption from unfavorable weather.

Source: TreeHugger